Talia walked beside me, her hands buried in the pockets of her oversized jacket, her headphones looped around her neck instead of in her ears. The blue in her hair caught the light like streaks of sapphire each time the wind kicked up.
She pushed a pair of sunglasses over the ridge of her nose and said, “Do you mind if we just walk for a minute?”
I nodded, taking what she’d said as her way of asking whether we could skip the talking for now. Considering she hadn’t planned to speak to me at all when I showed up at the house, it felt like progress. Maybe, if I gave her time, she’d change her mind.
We followed a narrow trail that wound through the trees, past a patch of moss-covered stones and a half-collapsed fence that once marked someone’s property line. The smell of damp earth filled the air, mingling with the faint sweetness of pine needles. When we reached a small clearing, I could almost picture how it must have looked that night when Audrey had left for Talia’s house, unaware she was being followed.
Talia stopped beside a fallen log, her gaze fixed on the forest floor. “This is where they found her. It’s crazy, you know? I look around, and it’s like nothing ever happened here. But for me, I feel frozen in place. Weeks have passed, but I’m still stuck right here, and I can’t seem to move on from it.”
“There’s no rush, no timeline on grieving.”
“I feel like a different person, like the person I was when she was alive died with her, even though I’m still here.”
I turned toward her. “I know what you mean. When you lose someone like that, it changes everything—how you see the world, how you see yourself. It’s like you’re still breathing, still moving through the same spaces, but part of you stayed behind with them. I’ve felt that too.”
She paused, then said, “Whoa, that’s deep.”
“I get the feeling you’re a deep person, an old soul like me. Am I right?”
She nodded.
“Talia, I know you’re struggling to talk about Audrey, but since you asked me to go for a walk with you, I was hoping I could ask you about a few things. It would be a big help. If you’re not ready though, I get it.”
She took a breath, steadying herself. “How long have you been a private investigator?”
“Let’s see, about four years now. Before that, I was a detective for the San Luis Obispo County.”
“Have you … uhh, solved many murders?”
“Twelve in the past five years.”
“Twelve out of how many?”
She was testing me, but it kept the conversation going, which gave me hope.
“It might be easier if I said there’s never been a murder case I’ve worked on that I haven’t solved.”
“Are you serious?”
“Sure am.”
“What do you want to ask me?”
It seemed my patience was about to pay off.
“In the days before Audrey’s death, what was she like?” I asked.
Talia glanced toward the trees. “Quieter than usual. I could tell something was off, but every time I asked, she brushed it off, told me not to worry. Which, of course, made me worry even more.”
“Do you have any idea what it might’ve been?”
She shook her head. “None.”
“What about Logan? How were they doing?”
Talia gave a small snort and rolled her eyes. “Annoying.”
“How so?”
